Animal Behaviour Expert Features in Sundance Festival Film

A researcher in animal behaviour has contributed her expertise to a heart-warming short film which will be screened at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Snowy is a short film about a pet turtle who lives in a basement just outside Philadelphia. Snowy represents the unexamined lives of our household pets, the ones too small, short-lived and expressionless to garner much human attention.

The filmmakers set out to better understand Snowy’s life experience and how they could improve it. They travelled from the USA to the University of Lincoln, UK, to visit the Cold-Blooded Cognition Lab and speak with Professor Anna Wilkinson.

Professor Wilkinson is an expert in animal cognition, and is interested in how animals see the world, how they process the vast amount of information that they perceive and what drives their behaviour. In particular, she is interested in how reptiles learn and remember key aspects of their environment and the implications that this has on their captive care and welfare.

Filmmaker Kaitlyn Schwalje said: “Professor Wilkinson’s voice serves to educate audiences about proper care and provoke wider conversations on the cognitive capabilities of reptiles. While the film is very turtle-centric, I think she gets everyone thinking about their pets in general. It seems there’s always room for improvement in understanding the nonhuman species around us, whether that’s your cat, hamster or pet turtle.”

Professor Wilkinson talked about her research on reptile cognition and welfare and provided advice about how to make improvements to ensure that Snowy had his very own happy ending.

Professor Wilkinson said: “It is easy to disregard reptile welfare – we are not very good at reading the signs that reptiles give us because they are so different from those we might observe in other mammals. A reptile can’t tell you if they’re feeling stressed or ill, but they can show you. If a tortoise is feeling stressed, they may be slower to move and pull their head further into their shell. These signs might be subtle but when you look at an animal’s behaviour closely you can begin to understand what they’re feeling.”

The film will premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which will take place from January 28 to February 3. The festival, which is normally held in Salt Lake City each year, is being held mostly online, with some in-person screenings available across the USA.

Those outside the US can take advantage of the Explorer Pass which is available to international audiences and includes the Indie, New Frontier and Short film categories on demand. Tickets are available to purchase on the Sundance Film Festival website. To find out more about Snowy, visit the film’s official website.